Ohio State football: Kick coverage unit on the move -- quickly

COLUMBUS -- Piranhas are on the loose at Ohio State, and no one is happier about it than Coach Urban Meyer.

Don't worry. Those who dip their foot into the Olentangy River or Mirror Lake are safe.

The ones in danger include kick returners from opposing teams.

After a breakout game against Nebraska last Saturday by the kickoff coverage unit, energetic OSU assistant coach Kerry Coombs drummed up the nickname of "The Piranhas" for the group that kept the Cornhuskers from any sort of good field position during OSU's 63-38 victory.

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"They can't be sharks -- they're this tall," said Coombs, holding his hand about four feet off the ground. "They have to be piranhas. We like to say when kids go after a guy with the ball, it's like sharks to blood. With this group, you can't. They're like piranhas just because they're like midgets."

The group of 11 isn't necessarily vertically challenged as much as it is experience challenged.

"They're an awful lot of fun to coach," Coombs said. "They run down the field with a great passion to get to the ball."

The group was highly effective against the Cornhuskers. Ohio State kicked off 10 times and seven of the returns by Nebraska fell short of the 25-yard line at which the Cornhuskers would have started had Basil simply kicked the ball out of the end zone.

Among the starting points of Nebraska's drives were the 8, 15 and 10.

"There's a race to the ball," Domicone said. "And the first one there wins."

Meyer and his staff go to great lengths to accentuate the importance of kick coverage. Thursday practices include a race down the field by the kick-coverage team.

Photos are taken at the receiving team's 40 and also further down the field to see which of the 10 -- not counting last line of defense Basil -- gets downfield fastest and is in the correct position to make a play.

"It's a big deal," Coombs said of Thursday's races.

The precision spills over to the field on game days. While credit has to go to Basil for correct hang time and placement as close to the goal line as possible, most of the credit goes to the Piranhas for getting downfield to make the plays.

"On three occasions, their kick returner has the ball and we're making contact before he has reached the 10-yard line," Coombs said. "So our guys have run 60 yards in the time the returner has fielded the ball and gone 5. That's a real mission on our part.

"We're intentionally not kicking it out of the end zone. We like the way those guys run down the field and cover.

It's a hungry group. A lot of the hunger comes from the desire to contribute. Not many freshmen crack the two-deep on Ohio State's lineup, meaning playing time is often on special teams.

Coombs pointed out the senior statesman of the group, Domicone, can be seen gathering the kick coverage team as soon as Ohio State scores a touchdown.

"We've been told every week (kick coverage) is the first play of the defense," Domicone said. "So if you want to go down and help our defense, it starts with us.

"It's a role we've all embraced."

With so many young players, there have been ups and downs with kick coverage. Only a handful of weeks have passed since Meyer lamented having so many freshmen on the kick coverage unit and that mistakes were being made because of that youth.

The youthful exuberance is paying off now in rotten field position by the opposition.

There might come a day the Piranhas grow up to be sharks, but as long as the productivity remains and teams are continually starting inside the 20, names don't matter.

"I don't know if they're gonna get a lot bigger," Coombs said, "but I wouldn't want to jump into a pool of piranhas myself. One big shark or 11 piranhas? I think I'll take my chances getting rid of the shark."